


Errors of Omission (The Long Weekend Remix)

by avocadomoon



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Co-Parenting, F/M, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 16:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20642351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avocadomoon/pseuds/avocadomoon
Summary: "He is a brave boy, and will grow into a brave man. I can see it in him already.""Scares the shit out of you, doesn't it?" John asks.





	Errors of Omission (The Long Weekend Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tielan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Errors Of Omission](https://archiveofourown.org/works/296561) by [tielan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/pseuds/tielan). 
  * In response to a prompt by [tielan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/pseuds/tielan) in the [2019remixrevivalmadness](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/2019remixrevivalmadness) collection. 

A long weekend is in order. Teyla is informed that this is tradition, when one has been kidnapped. 

"What about when one wasn't?" she asks. 

"It's implied," John explains. "Sometimes rescuing is just as hard as being rescued." He speaks from experience, she knows. 

New Athos is in the midst of winter, and Teyla's dwelling has been left largely untouched, save for the preparations made to protect it against the elements - Kanaan's doing, no doubt. Torren excitedly tugs John around by the hand, giving him the grand tour ("And this is where I sleep, and this is where Mama sleeps, and this is where Papa sleeps when he's too tired to hike back to Rashaan's tent, and this is where we keep the extra blankets, and - ") while Teyla unpacks their belongings, hiding her smiles at the look on John's face. He reminds her of her father, during those morning breakfasts when Halling's wife Yana would corner him and yammer on for ages about her sapling grafts. 

"Wow," John finally says, tugging Torren down onto the biggest bed and cutting him off mid-sentence, "thanks, buddy. I'm so glad you're here to show me around."

"You're welcome," Torren says grandly, squirming a little in John's grip. He doesn't make a move to escape it, however. "Mama, did you bring John's medicine? It's been almost four hours."

John grimaces dramatically, which makes Teyla laugh. "Good job, Torren. Yes, I did." 

Torren carefully measures out three pills in his small palms, watching carefully as John swallows them down with help from a canteen of melted snow. He's been helping Dr. Keller in the medbay - proudly returning home to Teyla with new information every day. Did she know that Pegasus people and Earth people had slightly different nervous systems? It wasn't enough to make too much of a difference, but that's why Earth people had slightly higher heart rates. Did she also know that the recommended amount of water per day was two liters? If she couldn't drink that much water every day, Torren would understand, because Dr. Keller said that other liquids were just as good. And he knows she drinks a lot of tea, so that probably counts. 

"Thanks, buddy," John says again, grimacing at the taste of the pills - they're the big kind, that leave a foul taste in your mouth. Teyla isn't fond of them either. "You take real good care of us, huh?"

Torren nods proudly. "Now you should sleep," he informs them. "Dr. Keller said that you both need to catch up."

John catches Teyla's eye over his head. "Aw man, it's not even bedtime yet."

"Doctor's orders, John," Teyla says gravely. "Torren will surely tell on us if we disobey them."

Torren's eyes are wide and serious. "Mama only slept half the night last night," he says. "I heard her get up in the middle of the night almost three times!"

"And how would you have heard me," Teyla asks archly, "if you had not been awake yourself?"

Torren's mouth snaps shut abruptly, his whole body shaking as John breaks into a braying laugh. 

"Maybe we all need to catch up," John says, running an affectionate hand over Torren's messy head. "You included, little man."

"I am not a little man," Torren says, sounding offended. 

"It's a figure of speech, son," Teyla says, joining them on the bed. "And yes, I'm afraid you are."

"I'm gonna be taller than both of you," Torren grumbles. Teyla and John lock eyes again, amused. He's probably right about that - not that either of them would dare to correct him. 

John's had nightmares the last three nights straight - jerking awake in the middle of the night, reaching out for Teyla's body in his half asleep stupor like he has to double check that she's still there. This is why Teyla has been getting up in the middle of the night - she's found that a sip of water - or whiskey, if she has it - tends to calm him enough to fall back asleep. She's considered asking Dr. Keller for a more serious solution should the dreams continue, but to her relief - the first night on New Athos, he sleeps all the way through, completely undisturbed. 

They rise with the sun, and hike to the center of the encampment for breakfast. Jinto and Halling welcome them in their tent for tea, and John and Torren give a grand, funny retelling of their captivity for Jinto's amusement (and Halling's badly concealed horror). Then they call on several other tents - Kanaan is out on a hunt, but his sister Rashaan is glad to see Torren, then Malla and Tunia, who gift them some food for lunch. Bram has finished his flute, and plays them a few songs before they leave. And Rack - the refugee from Alohuia - has been married to Trane's daughter, Ursa, and chats at length with John about his fur traps. 

Torren charms all, everywhere they go, and Teyla is glad to see it. It warms her heart to know that her son will have a choice, when he's old enough - she and Kanaan have done well in ensuring that he knows both worlds. Sometimes she tries to test herself by imagining a future where Torren chooses neither, and makes his way out into the universe to find his own path - but she can't bring herself to feel disappointed. Wherever he ends up, she will be proud. 

"The village doctor," John says in amusement, joining her at the edge of the clearing. Torren is explaining at length to Ursa, who is crouched down in the snow with her eyes wide, listening carefully, about the benefits of drinking water. Teyla smiles at them both. "He really likes helping Keller, doesn't he?"

"It makes him feel important," Teyla says. She touches John's arm. "Thank you for indulging him."

"I'm not _indulging_ anyone," John says, with just the barest hint of chastisement. He sounds like this often when Teyla thanks him for spending time with Torren - as if she is offending him by the implied assumption that it's not his responsibility. "He tried to protect me. You know."

Teyla's heart freezes, which has nothing at all to do with the cold. "He did?"

John's looking at Ursa and Torren too, his expression distant, his eyebrows pulled together in thought. "When we - I kept him with me as long as I could, but when they brought the drugs out, I couldn't…" he pauses, takes a deep breath, and starts again. "By then I knew they weren't going to hurt him unless I didn't cooperate, so I let them take him away. I figured he'd be safer locked up in some room somewhere then with me, having to watch…" John falters once more, his chin falling to his chest. "I didn't want him to see any of that."

Teyla's grip tightens on his bicep. "You spared him the worst of it, John. You did everything you could, and I am grateful beyond all words."

John waves away her words as if they don't even matter. For John, such sentiments are annoying at best, and offensive at worst. He never wants to be thanked - he would rather she ignore his bravery altogether. "He yelled at them the whole time - I could hear him in the next room over. He just kept shouting at them to leave me alone." He swallows thickly. "He told them I was sick, too. I think he thought it would make them scared of me. He said I had 'air disease.'"

Teyla laughs suddenly, covering her mouth with one palm. "He meant 'air sickness.' Rodney explained it to him a few weeks ago, when he was telling us that story about his vacation."

John laughs too. "I thought it was some weird Pegasus thing I hadn't heard of yet."

"I daresay that you've heard of most of our weird things by now," Teyla teases, moving in close. John opens his arms for her and she slides into them, pressing their stomachs together. The air is cold, but the sun is shining, and John's left his coat open, enough that Teyla can press her forehead to a patch of bare skin above the collar of his shirt. "He is a brave boy, and will grow into a brave man. I can see it in him already."

"Scares the shit out of you, doesn't it?" John asks, not waiting for an answer. He grips her shoulders tightly. "I've never been prouder of him, you know. He kept it together the whole time."

Teyla can feel her own pride, fierce and hot, in her chest. "Yes, he did."

The Athosians prefer distance over intimacy, especially on this new planet, so much safer than any other they've ever lived on. Teyla's dwelling is twenty minutes on foot from any other, and by the time night falls, it's as if they are all alone in the universe - the only sound outside their tent is the forest. 

"Did Kanaan really ask to keep him tonight?" John asks, eyeing her as she leisurely undresses, smiling up at the ceiling at each quick intake of breath she hears from the bed. "I'm feeling a little _wooed_ here, Teyla."

"Do you object to being wooed?" Teyla asks, peeling her skirt off of her hips and letting it fall gently to the earth. John's eyes fall immediately to her legs, and then shoot back up, his chest hitching a little. "Because I can stop, if you are uncomfortable."

"Oh, I'm uncomfortable alright," John says, reaching out one hand. Teyla takes it. 

It's just that they haven't made love since Teyla found him in that room, tied to that bed. Teyla is not so insecure to make assumptions about what this means - John takes his own time with things, just as she does - but she does want to give him the space to do something about it, if he wishes. John is unlike any lover she's ever had before - selfless to the point of selfishness - and while he won't take it well if she tries to force the issue, sometimes if she lays it out in front of him and waits, he will surprise her. 

He takes a shaky breath, as her weight settles down into his lap, but his arms come up firmly around her, his palms pressed widely against the small of her back. There are bumps and ridges all over his chest, from his years of service, and Teyla traces her favorites as she waits. This one, she can feel when she grips his shoulder. That one, she likes to kiss when he's on top of her. 

"Has it ever happened to you?" he asks hoarsely. His hands tighten, as if he already knows the answer. 

"Yes."

"Okay." John pauses. "It wasn't the first time for me either."

Teyla cradles his face in both her palms, and leans down for a kiss. His mouth opens beneath hers like the answer to a question, and once more she is struck by the physicality of his body - it is one thing to make love with a friend, but another one entirely when it's one you've wanted for so long that every touch feels like a gift. Someone you've watched for years, close and yet still far away - someone you've bled for and fought for, someone you've held together with your hands and your words. This is what her father must have felt, Teyla thinks often, when he finally made the overture to her mother. This is what it must've been like, to be blessed with love that they had both given up on. 

"If you wish to tell me, I will listen," Teyla says softly, when she pulls away. "But if you don't wish to talk, then we won't. I can give you whatever you need tonight, John."

"I don't know what I need," John says, with a soft groan. He pulls her closer, enclosing his arms around her in a tighter embrace. "That's always my problem."

"Then you can take what I give you," Teyla says, touching his face again gently. "And we can figure it out together."

"A'right," John says, his accent open and rough, like he often sounds when he drinks. He buries his face in her bare chest, pressing kisses down the sharp edge of her sternum. "Teyla."

"Hm?" She gasps when his mouth reaches the edge of her breast, his teeth scraping a little against her skin as he talks. "Yes, John."

His palms slide down, beneath her thighs, and Teyla finds herself being moved - rolled over onto the bed on her back, laughing a little at the suddenness of it. John is grinning too, when he lifts his face, his hair even more rumpled than usual. "Have you ever had post-mission sex?"

"As I did not go on 'missions' before I met you, I think you know the answer is no," Teyla says. 

"Yeah, but you could've with Kanaan. I know he was staying in your quarters in the city for awhile."

Teyla wrinkles her nose. "John."

"Well, I'm just askin'." He grins again. "There's a whole thing - like a procedure or something at the SGC. They had to relax the frat regs because people were always having 'we almost died' sex in the infirmary."

"Now that, I am familiar with," Teyla says. "We did almost die, John. And we are about to have sex."

"But we didn't," John says, leaning down for another kiss. "Because you saved us."

Teyla finds herself breathless all of a sudden. Just for the sake of how he says it. 

"Just thought I'd say 'thanks,' is all," John says, his hands sliding up her torso, conspicuously avoiding her nipples in a light, teasing touch that makes her squirm. 

"Your point is well taken," Teyla says, stopping his palms at her throat and moving them back downward. "I am...grateful, for your gratitude."

"Great," John says enthusiastically. "That's...uh, yeah - "

"Great," Teyla agrees, and arches her back. There is not much more talking, after that. 

"John," Torren says plaintively. They are watching the sunrise on their third morning, from the northern ridge that affords the best view above the trees. John had attempted to start a fire with some sticks, which failed spectacularly. She and Torren have both resisted the urge to use a firestarter, out of respect to his sore feelings about it. "Can you teach me how to fly a jumper?"

"You don't have the gene, kiddo," John says apologetically. "But you could start to learn on Rodney's flight simulator - that's pretty fun."

"Dr. Keller says there's a way to give me the gene."

"When you're old enough," John says, eyeing Teyla a little nervously. She smiles serenely back at him, unwilling to save him this time. "Your mom thinks…"

"Papa said it was okay if Mama said it was okay, and she said it was okay if you said it was okay," Torren says quickly. 

John shoots her a betrayed look, and Teyla simply keeps smiling. "Buddy, I don't think you're quite old enough to start - "

"I'm nine," Torren says flatly, "and I'm going to be ten _so soon._"

"I know, kid," John says quickly, holding up one hand. 

"So I'm not a _kid,_" Torren says pointedly. "Besides, you're teaching Jinto."

"Jinto is...a whole other story," John says, delicately skirting around the ongoing issue of Jinto's demands to help Atlantis, and Halling's increasingly desperate attempts to keep him on New Athos. "Now that right there is a complex issue which is really none of our business, kid. I mean - Torren."

Torren wrinkles his nose. "He's been learning from you for a long time. He told me yesterday you started to teach him stuff when he was my age."

"Did he," John says, narrowing his eyes. 

"So if you start teaching me now, then I'll be ready when I'm as old as he is," Torren says triumphantly. "But if you don't, then I won't have as much time to learn, and I won't be as good when I _am_ old enough." Torren crosses his arms, triumphant in his logic. 

John shoots another desperate look at Teyla, who is currently trying very hard not to laugh. She has little room for much else. "That's...a good point. I guess."

"So you'll teach me?"

"I will…" John grimaces, "show you the flight simulator when we get back to the city. Okay? We'll go from there."

"Okay," Torren says, instantly placated. He wiggles happily in the snow between them, going back to his original task of building a giant snowball between his legs. "Thanks, John."

"Yeah, no problem," John says, still scowling at Teyla. He leans over Torren's head and pinches her waist, causing her laughter to finally spill out, loudly echoing across the valley. "Thank your mama for the help, Torren. She's always ready to step in when I need it, isn't she?"

Torren rolls his eyes and ignores him, well used to the way John teases her when he's in ear shot. Teyla jerks backwards, avoiding another pinch by slapping at John's hand, who finally laughs himself when she makes contact - flapping his hand in the air and feigning pain. 

"You're welcome," she says, still breathless with laughter. It feels good to laugh. "You know I am always ready to lend assistance."

"Yeah, yeah," John says.


End file.
